New Jersey Minimum Wage Increasing to $15 Per Hour

February 7, 2019

On February 4th, Governor Murphy signed legislation that will raise New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024. The bill (A-15) will increase wages for over one million New Jersey workers. This deal places New Jersey among the three other states who have committed to raising wages considerably, including California, New York, and Massachusetts.

Currently, New Jersey’s minimum wage is $8.85. New Jersey’s base minimum wage will increase to $10 per hour on July 1, 2019. By January 1, 2020, the statewide minimum wage will increase to $11 per hour, and then will increase by $1 per hour every January 1st until the statewide minimum wage reaches $15 per hour on January 1, 2024.

There are some exceptions to New Jersey’s new minimum wage law. For seasonal workers and employees at small business with five or fewer workers, the base minimum wage will not reach $15 per hour until January 1, 2026. For agricultural workers, the base minimum wage will increase to $12.50 by January 1, 2024. Then, no later than March 31, 2024, the New Jersey Labor Commissioner and Secretary of Agriculture will jointly decide whether to recommend that the minimum wage for agricultural workers increase to $15 per hour by January 1, 2027.

Under the new law, tipped employees will continue to receive at least the regular minimum wage through a combination of tips and base salary; however, the tipped wage will increase from $2.13 per hour to $5.13 per hour.